Listen to Robert Emmerich introduce The Big Apple, a hit song from 1937. Music written by Bob and performed by Tommy Dorsey's Clambake Seven with Bob on piano. Lyrics written by Buddy Bernier and sung by Edythe Wright. Audio provided by Dorothy Emmerich.

The city of San Antonio was named by Spanish explorers and missionaries who discovered a river of June 13 (the feast day of Saint Anthony) in 1691. The river was named “San Antonio” and Mission San Antonio de Valero (later called the “Alamo") was founded in 1718. An early San Antonio nickname was “the Alamo City.”

San Antonio was called “Mission City” by the 1890s, and the “Mission City” name is still used in many San Antonio businesses.

Wikipedia: San Antonio, TexasSan Antonio (pronounced /ˌsænænˈtoʊnioʊ/) is the second-largest city in the state of Texas and the seventh-largest in the United States of America. Located in the northern part of South Texas, the city is a cultural gateway into the American Southwest. San Antonio is the seat of Bexar County with a population just under 1.3 million as of the 2006 U.S. Census estimate, as well as the 4th fastest growing large city in the nation from 2000-2006 . Its metropolitan area has a population of over 1.9 million and is the 29th-largest metropolitan area in the U.S.

San Antonio was named for the Italian Saint Anthony of Padua, whose feast day it was (June 13) when a Spanish expedition stopped in the area in 1691.

History
American Indians originally lived in the San Antonio River valley in the San Pedro Springs area, calling the vicinity Yanaguana, meaning “refreshing waters.”

In 1691, a group of Spanish explorers and missionaries came upon the river on June 13, the feast day of St. Anthony, and named the river “San Antonio” in his honor.

The actual founding of the city took place in 1718 by Father Antonio de San Buenaventura y Olivares, upon establishing Mission San Antonio de Valero. Hence via the efforts of Spanish soldiers and Canary Islanders, San Antonio de Béxar was soon transformed into an early Spanish settlement in the Americas.

Wikipedia: Alamo Mission in San Antion
The Alamo (San Antonio de Valero Mission) is a former mission and fortress compound, now a museum, in San Antonio, Texas. The compound, which originally comprised a sanctuary and surrounding buildings, was built by the Spanish Empire in the 18th century for the education of local Native Americans after their conversion to Christianity. After its abandonment as a mission, it was used as a fortress in the 19th century and was the scene of several military actions, including most notably the 1836 Battle of the Alamo, one of the pivotal battles between the forces of the Republic of Texas and Mexico during the Texas Revolution.

I think the “Alamo City” deserves a different nickname, maybe the “Riverwalk City.” Granted, the Alamo is the city’s most famous landmark but the city owes its entire existence to the river. The area was originally settled because of the life-giving water; the resulting city, San Antonio, is named after the river that meanders through downtown.

The river earned it’s name because it was discovered by the Spanish on June 13, 1691, which, as everyone knows, is the feast day of San Antonio de Padua, a Portuguese saint. The first settlement didn’t occur until the mission of San Antonio de Valero (now more commonly known as the Alamo) was founded near the river in 1718.

Which brings us to the mission period of San Antonio. Spain had claimed huge swaths of the New World but in true pioneering spirit a claim was only as strong as your presence. In other words, your word was not enough to keep other countries from encroaching, you needed boots on the ground. In the early 1700s France began to push her boundaries westward in the New World infringing well into Spain’s Tejas territory. Spain needed to settle the area fast. Unfortunately, the Crown had trouble persuading any of its loyal subjects to make the move that was fraught with certain peril.

So, Spain decided to tap into one of its many resources, the natives. The Crown established five missions along the San Antonio River: San Antonio de Valero (1718), San José and San Miguel de Aguayo (1720), San Juan Capistrano (1731), San Francisco de la Espada (1731), and Nuestra Señora de la Concepción de Acuña (1755).

These Texas missions were far different from Spain’s other missions in the southwest. At all missions the natives were converted to Catholicism and saved, but in Texas the natives were also trained to become loyal Spanish citizens. The missions served as vocational training schools where the natives learned farming, and animal husbandry techniques as well as blacksmithing, weaving, woodworking, masonry and numerous other skills. So who were these native people and did they do all this voluntarily?

The natives were small bands of hunter/gatherers known collectively as Coahuiltecans. They were under severe duress when the first Fathers appeared. Their neighbors to the north, the Lipan Apaches and Comanches had already acquired the horse from other tribes further west and since they were more mobile they were infringing on the Coahuiltecan’s territory. Contact with the Spanish exposed the natives to various diseases they had no resistance to and the climate record shows an extended period of drought. So, completely altering their lifestyle and learning new ways of living may have been a voluntary act of desperation.

The missions were self supporting walled villages where the natives exchanged labor for food and refuge. Although they received supplements from Mexico City twice a year the rest was up to them. On nearby fields, called labores, the mission residents farmed sugar cane, corn, beans, wheat, cotton and raised pigs, goats, sheep, and cattle. The missions at one time had over 5,000 head of cattle on the open range. An interesting cultural note, the vaquero (cowboy) that is so iconic of the West originated with the natives who ran cattle for the missions in Texas! (...)

Google BooksThe Texarkana Gateway to Texas and the Southwest
issued jointly by The Texas & Pacific Railway and The International & Great Northern Railroad
St. Louis, MO: Press of Woodward & Tierman Printing Co.
1896
Pg. 203:
San Antonio is beautifully and regularly laid out, with broad, well-paved street and avenues, concrete walks, and numerous public gardens and plazas. The plazas, indeed, are the distinguishing feature of the city, for though characteristic of the towns of Latin America, there is no other city of the Union where there are so many of these breathing places, or such charming ones as are to be found in the Mission City.

10 December 1896, Galveston (TX) Daily News, pg. 4, col. 7:
The Southern Pacific people say that the promise is bright for a big business into San Antonio on the 11th. They expect ti take in the biggest excursion on that day that was ever hauled into the Mission city. The storming of the Alamo is to be the special attraction.

21 June 1900, Dallas (TX) Morning News, pg. 12:
Another thing that he says he will look into while in the Mission City is the new telephone company which has asked for a franchise in Dallas. This company has its home in San Antonio and Mr. Irelson says that he intends to call on them and see what they are doing in the way of furnishing telephone connections.

4 January 1903, San Antonio (TX) Daily Express, pg. 12:
In our own “Mission City,” we have introduced the sewing, which has been in successful operation for nearly three years with most satisfying results.

San Antonio is beloved by its residents for its mild climate, rich history, cultural opportunities and reasonable cost of living. Diverse influences on the city’s development have made it one of the most visually interesting cities in the United States, with a distinct architecture. There are many buildings in the city which are on the historic register.
San Antonio has a definite Latino flavor, with a large number of the residents having Mexican heritage. More than 61% of the residents define themselves as Hispanic, with 28.5% identifying themselves as Caucasian/non-Hispanic, and 6.4% who describe themselves as African American/non-Hispanic. The remainder of residents self-define as Asian, mixed-race, or other.
People who live within Loop 410 are considered to be living downtown in San Antonio, while regions outside of the loop are considered suburbs. Living within the loop provides a busy urban lifestyle and an easy commute to most jobs.